09.14.2006

Marceline woke up early in the morning like she always did. About five minutes before her alarm would start screaming into her ear. The young Abadeer always got out of bed a few hours before school started.

"Daughter, discipline is a given for an Abadeer."

Of course, her dad was right. He was always right. He was the one leading a gigantic cooperation, not her, so how could she be the judge of what was good for her and what wasn't? She simply did what was asked of her. After all, she wasn't a child anymore.

Together with the sun rising, Marceline started her usual jogging route, through the better parts of the city. She always thought that those few hours when the city was still asleep were so tranquil. Almost no cars drove around, no one was yelling around, it was just… peaceful. Normally she would hear some music just to shut everyone around her off, but through those few magical hours, she didn't. She only heard her own breathing, her footsteps, and the occasional bird singing a song. No rules, no expectations, no irritating pink haired girls.

But of course, such a peaceful morning couldn't go uninterrupted. As she was heading towards one of the bigger parks of the city, she immediately stopped, as she saw someone running through the park herself.

Keila?

Marceline's first reaction even now was the urge to call her old friend's name like she used to, but she stopped herself. Keila wouldn't want to see her, now. She didn't know if she was angry at her, but Marceline couldn't blame her if she was, after all, it was her that had chosen this life over their friendship. So, instead of finding out, she turned around and left the girl with dark curls alone. Old memories of them started resurfacing. Marceline never had many close friends, she wouldn't even call her boyfriend a real friend. And yet she had tossed her old friend away. Suddenly the stillness of the morning was disturbing to the young Abadeer. It went too well along with the cold numbness all over her skin. She popped her earphone in, and with loud music, she made her way back to her house.

The hell was I thinking. She doesn't want to see me, and I would only be wasting time talking to her anyway. Time is valuable for an Abadeer.

Finally, being back in the company, she took the elevator up to her room, which pretty much was the whole floor. Normally she would just head straight into the shower, but for no particular reason, she stopped at one of the large windows. It was a nice view from up here over the whole city of Ooozten, but right now she felt so distant to everyone down there. They were merely ants crawling around the building, so far away from Marceline. They were so insignificant, and… and somehow Marceline envied them for that.

The whole floor had very large rooms, way too big to fill them all out with stuff, especially if one doesn't have time for hobbies. That emptiness, she had grown accustomed to over the years, suddenly felt so heavy, that her legs felt like giving out. But just before they did, she got startled by a vibration in her pocket.

It was a message from that pink-haired girl.

Bonnible. Her name is Boonible. She corrected herself.

"Hey, Marceline. Thanks for agreeing to exchange numbers. Like this, it will be a lot easier to work on our project together :)"

It was weird. She hadn't received a message since middle school. For her, it felt like it had been in another lifetime. It felt so… childish to write with someone not related to the cooperation.

Someone? The young Abadeer Wondered. Could they have been friends in another timeline? Maybe if they had met in middle school the two could've been best friends. Somehow this thought warmed her up more than the hot shower, she was standing in by now. But Marceline knew, it was too late for her to make friends.

And anyway, she is only using me to escape the blond pretty boy. What's his name again? He's probably crushing on her, and she noticed it. Can't blame her. Or him.

Marceline quickly put her head under the jet of water, to wash that dangerous thought away. She had Ash. Ash was a nice guy and was objectively speaking very handsome. He and her, they had a future. He would inherit his father's company at some point, and so would she. Then, together they would lead a happy life, their prosperity save from all the evils in the world, and maybe get one or two kids on their own.

I would be a mother? Suddenly her stomach felt like it was turning inside out. She stopped the water, and quickly got out of the shower, hoping that the reason for her dizziness was because of the temperature of the water. She dried herself up, hectically grabbed her phone and called her boyfriend.

"Hey, babe?" Hearing Ash's voice somehow calmed her down again.

"Hi…"

"You alright? It's rare for you to call me, especially so early in the morning."

"Yeah, I just… I just missed you." She lied.

…

As if the day hadn't started bad enough, she had to spend the rest of it with Bonnible. She knew that the pink-haired girl hadn't done anything bad. She knew, and yet she blamed her for her mood. It wasn't fair, but since when had the world been fair to her ever? So, why should she be fair in return?

"And then, if we manage to finish this part in a few days, we should be able to get the rest done in time as well." Bonnie pushed a strand of hair out of her face, as she looked up from the papers spread over the desk. The young Abadeer could feel the other girl's green eyes staring at her, but she refused to meet them. "Marceline, you listening?"

"Course I am. Why shouldn't I be? We finish this part, and the rest should be easy, I got it already."

"Uhm… that's good, I guess?" Bonnibel quirked an eyebrow. "We should focus on the project, you know. Mr. Garb really gave us a butt-ton of work for no reason."

Was she blaming her? "I am listening, get on with it already." Marceline made an annoyed circular motion with her hand, underlining what she had said.

"Okay, is there something we should talk about?" Bonnie said while closing the folder in front of her. Her voice was calm, and she was speaking slowly as if she was trying to stop a baby from crying.

"Stop wasting your time, pinky." She said a little too loud, as a boy sitting next to them suddenly shushed them for talking so much in a library. The Abadeer glared at him for a moment, before rolling her eyes. If they were oh so loud, he should sit somewhere else. But an Abadeer would never start a ruckus over something like that. That's how she had been raised. That was how someone in her world had to act like. Her dad would be disappointed if she didn't.

Her dad…

Bonnie got startled as Marceline jolted up, looking at the boy that didn't know what was going to happen to him. "Hey listen prick, you got a problem with us?"

Obviously, the boy hadn't expected such a rude backlash. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, excuse you, asshole." Marceline pointed angrily at him. "Can't you just leave two girls alone that are obviously working on something?"

"But this is a library?" He retorted, with a quiet voice.

Bonnibel sighed. She had already realized that they wouldn't get any work done today, so she started packing her stuff, while the other girl was still barking at the poor guy. She didn't know what had put Marceline in such a bad mood, but this girl had some real anger issues in her opinion. Right now, she was questioning her choice to work with her. Maybe working with Finn would've been better after all...

"This a gender thing? You think you can command us because we are females and need to be obedient?"

"Wait what, n-no, this is not what I meant!"

"Sure it isn't, it never-" But she stopped mid-sentence. Just now, she noticed that her partner was wrapping up. "Hey, pinky are we done for today?"

"Sure looks like it." She answered in the same calm voice, while not even looking up while packing her bag. For some reason, she didn't seem as caring as she did before. A knot started to form in the young Abadeer's stomach.

"W-We can still do some work, right? I-I mean, we got so much to do… and stuff…"

"Sure, you can stay if you want. I mean, you can if you don't get thrown out in the next few minutes." She put her backpack on, and while walking past Marceline and the still overwhelmed boy, she said: "Sorry for her." Pointing with her head at the Abadeer.

"W-Wait for me!" Suddenly Marceline felt the bitter taste of guilt in her mouth. Why was she so immature? They didn't have time for this childish acting of hers. Bonnibel didn't wait.

She is pissed at me. Understandable.

The black-haired girl quickly threw her belongings in her own bag. Luckily for her, most of the sheets had been Bonnibles. Once she was done, she rushed after the other girl, grinding her teeth together in anger. Not because of Bonnie, nor the guy she just yelled at, but because she was angry at herself. Taking two steps at once, she jumped down the stairs. She would have to explain herself somehow to her. Once outside the library, she quickly spotted her.

"Pink… Bonnibel!"

But the other girl kept walking, not even turning around.

C'mon now.

She knew that she had to run after her. Bonnibel was the only person that could make her feel better right now, the only one that could cure her of that sickening guilt. And so, she ran after her.

"Bonnibel, stop! I need to-" But the girl didn't stop. "W-Wait!"

"I don't talk to bullies." The pink head walking in front of her said, not slowing down at all.

She followed the other girl while crossing a road. "I… I fucked up. I'm sorry." She said in such a low voice that she didn't even expect Bonnibel to hear her over the traffic. The girl walking in front of her then suddenly stopped, as they reached the walkway. Marceline almost ran into her but could stop herself before doing so, and for an awfully long moment, she just stood there looking at the other girl's back.

Then, Bonnibel finally turned around. "That was not okay." She said, pushing her finger in the taller girl's shoulder.

"Had a bad day. I know. Ain't an excuse for acting like a brat."

"A brat? My brother is a brat, he doesn't act like this! You explode as soon as something doesn't go how you want it, you don't act like a child but…" Bonnibel needed to catch her breath because just now she noticed how upset she had become while talking.

"But?..." Marceline asked carefully, with a low voice.

"Like someone that is hurting."